


Change

by aceofsparrows



Category: Anne of Green Gables (TV 1985) & Related Fandoms, Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery
Genre: F/M, I love them so much, Major Spoilers, anne & gil have ptsd, fluff w melancholy, obvs, post-continuing story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23660632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofsparrows/pseuds/aceofsparrows
Summary: Five months after their return to PEI from the fronts Great War, Anne & Gilbert reflect upon those they have loved, lost, and what the future holds.
Relationships: Diana Barry/Fred Wright, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley, Moody Spurgeon MacPherson/Josie Pye
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Change

**Author's Note:**

> For @withlovegilbert, who needed fluff today and I was more than happy to oblige.
> 
> A bit of movie!shirbert post-continuing story. So many spoilers for Continuing Story, so if you haven’t watched it & don’t want it spoiled I suggest you skip this and come back later when you have seen it! :)
> 
> * * *
> 
> "Well, that was life. Gladness and pain...hope and fear...and change. Always change! You could not help it. You had to let the old go and take the new to your heart...learn to love it and then let it go in turn. Spring, lovely as it was, must yield to summer and summer lose itself in autumn. The birth...the bridal...the death...” -- L.M. Montgomery, "Anne of Ingleside"

She was perfect. Radient, shimmering in the early evening sun, the tiny glass beads on the fringe of her dress casting a thousand fragments of light everywhere she turned.

She was perfect, and he was the luckiest man in the world.

“How lovely you look tonight, Madam,” he greeted her, smiling from the bottom of the staircase. She paused on the steps to give him a coy little pose as she grinned, eyes lit with mirth, then continued to descend.

“You clean up pretty well yourself, Dr. Blythe,” she replied, straightening the back of his collar as she stood on the step above him. “I’ve always appreciated a well-dressed gentleman.”

“Why thank you,” he laughed, offering his arm. “And I have always appreciated you in literally anything.”

She threw her head back with laughter at that, looping her arm through his. “Oh how you flatter me! No wonder I married you…”

“I’ll pretend I don’t wonder at the implications of that statement, _Mrs. Blythe_ , and gracefully change the subject.” He glanced at her sideways, and she returned his gaze with a sly smile. “Why are we going to this party, again?”

“Oh, you know Diana and her extravagance. The war is over, her third child has entered the world safely, and there are ever so many things to celebrate. She wanted to throw me a _baby shower_ this week as well but I drew the line at one party and one party only.”

“Well done.”

“Anyway, I figured we should go and enjoy ourselves, let Dominic tire himself out playing with the other children, and then we can all come home and go to bed happy. Besides, every once and a while one should have a bit of frill in one’s life, don’t you think?”

“Of course.”

Having meandered down the length of the hall they came to the front room, finding Dominic entertaining himself quietly with a set of wooden blocks Gilbert had cut and sanded for him.

“Time to go, Dominic, darling,” Anne called, disengaging herself from her husband to cross the room to the child. “It’s time for us to go to Auntie Di’s party.” Dominic looked up at Anne, wide grey eyes expectant, and she smiled, hoisting the toddler into her arms to settle him on her hip.

“He’s getting heavy,” she muttered to Gilbert as she passed him in the doorway.

“Well, you don’t have to keep carrying him, Anne. He _is_ almost two years old and he can walk just fine. And besides, you _are_ five months pregnant. You can’t expect to be able to hold him like you used to,” Gilbert said gently. Anne sighed as she made her way to the entryway.

“I know. I just….” There was a hopeless, far-off look in her eyes as she trailed off, and Gilbert laid a hand on her shoulder.

“I know.”

She smiled, sighed, and let Dominic down. “Can you help him into his coat?”

##  *** * ***

“Anne, Gilbert, how good to see you! My, what a handsome pair you two make, all dressed up like this…” Josie Spurgeon exclaimed, drawing the small room’s attention as Anne and Gilbert entered, Dominic clinging to their hands. “And this must be the little one I’ve heard so much about! Diana will _not_ stop talking about this darling child…”

Josie bent down, waggling a finger at Dominic. He grinned, and Anne smiled, an idle hand on Dominic’s flaxen curls. “Hello, Josie. Thank you for having us.”

“Oh, my pleasure. Seeing as I’ve got nothing better to do with this big old house I might as well play hostess to my best friends when they deserve a little party, mightn’t I? I’ve even been considering getting a job, that’s how bored I am…” she laughed, but there was little mirth in it. They all felt the weight of those who were not in the room, those who would only be with them in spirit.

Diana smiled, breaking the silence. “Well, I am ever so grateful you did agree to have us, Josie. I love Green Gables, but it’s not the most ideal of places for hosting, even with such a small group. And besides, here we have room for dancing!”

“That we do! I didn’t get the ballroom re-floored three years ago for nothing, after all.”

“Diana?” Anne cut in, smiling at Josie who took the interruption gracefully. “Where are the children?”

Diana smiled. “They’re in the parlor. Junior is looking after Jack. I’m sure he and Cordelia will be thrilled to see Dominic again.”

Anne nodded, then bent carefully to level herself with the little boy at her side. “Freddie and Annie are in the parlor, darling. Can you go and play with them while Gilly and I talk to the grown ups? You can always come back and get me if you need anything.”

“Mm hm,” Dominic nodded, and Anne smiled after him as he toddled into the next room, greeted almost immediately by squeals of delight from the other three children.

“You really are such a wonderful mother, Anne,” Josie said after a pause, gaze lingering on the doorway.

“Oh, you’re too kind, Josie,” chuckled Anne, straightening slowly. “I’ve had copious amounts of practice.” She rolled her eyes.

“Yes, well, you’ll certainly have plenty more. When is the little one due?” Josie asked, gesturing to the slope of Anne’s stomach.

Anne glanced at her husband. “You said late July, didn’t you Gil?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Oh a summer baby! How lovely.” Josie clasped her hands together, her face falling momentarily. “I still wish Moody and I had had a child. It would have been nice to have had some part of him with me after all of this. But I’m thinking of adopting now that there are so many children left behind after this dreadful tragedy.”

“Oh, really?” Asked Diana, her eyebrows raised. “I wouldn’t have taken you for the charitable kind, Josie Spurgeon.”

“Oh, stop it, Diana Wright,” Josie shot back, her tone light with mock consternation. “Mother was appalled at the idea when I first introduced it, but we’re both so terribly bored here in the house and I feel so useless just dithering around like an old woman without any purpose, so I thought that it was the best thing to do. Might as well help out some poor soul.”

Diana nodded, and Anne took Gilbert’s hand, squeezing it tightly as they shared a glance.

“And after all, Anne turned out so well I could hardly say I have much trepidation about adopting an orphan, no matter what sort of mishap may occur!”

“Oh, what flattery,” Anne deadpanned, and they all laughed.

“Anyhow, how about we get to that dancing?”

##  *** * ***

“Ugh, I think my feet are going to fall off,” Anne groaned, pulling the quilt over her and massaging the bridge of her nose with the heel of her hand. “I am _not_ going to be wearing heels for much longer than strictly necessary soon enough, I can tell you that.”

“I thought you did wonderfully, considering,” commented Gilbert, sliding into bed next to her and taking up her worried hand in his to kiss her knuckles gently. “Small-talk has never been either of our strong suits and good Lord, the _whole evening_ was small-talk.”

“Mm,” Anne nodded thoughtfully, turning carefully onto her side to rest her head on her husband’s shoulder. “It was nice to see everyone though, to be reminded of all the wonderful things we still have and not just all of what we’ve lost.”

“Mm.”

“And Dominic certainly enjoyed seeing the Wright children. I can tell he’s so lonely here at the house with me all day.” She frowned, the hand that was splayed loose on the quilt over Gilbert’s chest tightening suddenly.

“I worry, Gil. Constantly,” she whispered, and Gilbert took her trembling hand to still it carefully.

“So do I. But we’ve gotten this far, haven’t we, this little ramshackle family of ours?”

“I know. I just… I worry about Dominic– he’s so quiet, you know, and he’s almost two already– and I worry about the baby, and I worry about you…” She takes a deep breath, turning her nose to inhale the warm, clean scent of Gilbert’s nightshirt. “I dreamt about Bar-Le-Duc again last night, Gil,” she breathed, and Gilbert said nothing, instead gathering his wife in his arms and holding her as close as possible to him.

“You have me here with you now, Anne, and I swear I will never leave you. I have you too, and I’m never letting you go.”

“I love you, Gil,” Anne murmured. “My best friend, my worst enemy, the most wonderful husband a woman could ever ask for, and a loving father. You are my everything.”

“Til the end of time, Anne-girl.”

“Til the end of time.”


End file.
